


Dance with Me

by helsinkibaby



Series: In a Different Light [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance, Workplace Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-25
Updated: 2012-09-25
Packaged: 2019-03-16 00:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13625097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: After the SuperBowl, the BAU team are having fun.





	Dance with Me

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "The Big Game Part one" season 2 episode 14

The Superbowl party in McShay’s is in full swing, and Hotch laughs as Prentiss puts another round of drinks on the table. He’s looking, not for the first time, at Morgan strutting his stuff on the dance floor, surrounded by a bevy of appreciative ladies, but it’s the first time Prentiss has seen him in action and the look on her face is a picture. She becomes even more incredulous when she sees how Garcia is looking at him. “Like a cat,” is the pronouncement, and Prentiss laughs.

“An alley cat,” she says, and Garcia is comically offended. She moves away towards the ladies’ room, leaving an instruction not to let anyone steal her seat, and as she leaves, Prentiss leans in towards Hotch.

“Where’s JJ?” she asks, and Hotch instantly points her in the right direction.

“Schooling some Neanderthals who think women can’t throw darts,” he tells her, and as they watch, JJ’s arms fly above her head in triumph, causing her top to ride up and display a rather eye-catching amount of midriff. It certainly catches Hotch’s eye, and he can’t stop a smile from crossing his lips. Too late he remembers that Prentiss is a new recruit, isn’t privy to the details of his and JJ’s relationship, and that he’s not entirely sure that she can be trusted.

Which is why her next words surprise him. “So why aren’t you two out there showing Morgan how it’s really done?” He turns his head sharply towards her, and whatever expression is on his face makes her laugh. “Oh, come on, you think I don’t know?” She shakes her head. “So much for me thinking I was making an impression as a profiler.”

“Trust me, Emily, you’re making an impression,” he tells her dryly. “And, I think, a good suggestion.”

With that, he pushes himself off his barstool and makes his way towards JJ, ignoring Emily’s hoot of approval behind him. Approaching JJ and her two admirers – for he’s fairly sure that’s what they are – he hears her mention something about growing up in a town that was too small for a bowling alley, hears them demanding a rematch.

“Sorry, fellas,” he tells them, coming up beside JJ and taking her hand in his. “I believe they’re playing our song.” He’s sure JJ knows him well enough to hear that there’s a question in there, even if her admirers don’t hear one, because he’s also pretty sure that if JJ thought for a second that he was ordering her around, she’d tell him where to go.

He’s proven right when a slow smile spreads across her face. “I believe they are,” she says, closing her fingers around his, allowing him to lead her away to a chorus of disappointed catcalls. “Sorry,” she calls over her shoulder, but she sounds anything but.

Once on the dance floor, even if he does say it himself, their moves put Morgan to shame, and Derek lets them know it with a couple of smart-ass comments. “You never normally do this,” JJ says as she winds her arms around his neck. His arms go around her waist, pulling her closer, as she continues, “Dance with me like this… in front of everyone.”  
He lets his shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. “Maybe I should,” is all he says, but it’s enough to have her smiling up at him.

“I’d like that.”

He’s about to lean in and kiss her, but that’s the moment that Prentiss comes up beside them, looking like she’d rather be anywhere in the world other than right there. “I’m sorry, guys,” she starts, but they see the cell phone in her hand and they know.

“Rain check?” he asks, and she raises herself up on her toes, brushes her lips over his.

“Definitely.”  



End file.
